The Amphitheatrum Flavium, a.k.a. Colosseum or Coliseum (though in the antiquity Romans referred to it as to
Amphitheatrum Caesareum or hunting theater), was built
by the Flavian emperors Vespasian, Titus and Domitian between
71-72 and 80 AD as a gift to the Roman citizens, in the place where the previous Emperor Nero (37-68 AD) had built his residence, the Domus Aurea.
The city needed an amphitheatre, as the only one with a (partially) stone structure had
been built by Statilius Taurus in 29 BC and it was too small. The emperor Caligula (12-41
AD) had started the works for a new amphitheatre, but Claudius (10-54 AD) stopped them
when he came to power. Nero, too, refused to use the old Statilius' facility and preferred
to have his own amphitheatre built in the Campus Martis. It was a beautiful one, according
to the historians, but it was destroyed, probably in the famous fire of AD 64.
Nero's death in 68 marked the end of the Julio-Claudian dinasty; the Flavian family came
to power. The emperor Vespasian was acknowledged
as emperor by the Senate in 69, and wanted to make a political
gesture to reconcile the Roman citizens with the new masters. So he gave back to the
Romans most of the land that Nero had occupied in the centre of the city, and the
Colosseum was built in the place where before was an artificial lake, in the park of Nero's residence.
It took about ten years to build the
amphitheatre. Vespasian started the works in 72 AD and his
son Titus (see him smiling in the statue on the right)
dedicated it in the year 80 with magnificent games that lasted one hundred days. It is generally accepted that the building was completed by the
following emperor, Domitian, Titus' brother.
In the amphitheatre, a Roman
invention, were held games; the most popular were the venationes
(hunts) and the munera (gladiatorial games). The
Roman ruling class was obliged, by law and by the expectation of the people, to organize
games, also to gain the favour of the citizens. The organization of the games, which
involved great expenses, became a matter of public
interest and was regulated by many laws.
The whole area was dedicated to the games; near the Colosseum Domitian also built four ludi,
the prisons where gladiators had their training. The bestiarii, who fought
against the beasts, were in the Ludus matutinus, so called because the show with
the animals was held in the morning. Then there was the Ludus Gallicus, the Ludus
Dacicus and the Ludus Magnus.
The Colosseum remained in service for four and a half centuries; there is evidence of many changes, additions and repairs. Once, in 217, the upper
floors went on fire because of a thunderbolt, and for five
years the shows were held at the circus. There also were many earthquakes
(in 442 and 470, 847). The last gladiatorial
combat is recorded in 404, and the last hunt in 523. Gradually the taste of the public had
changed, but the main reason for the end of the games was the military and financial
crisis of the western part of the empire, together with the many invasions Italy suffered.
Nobody could bear anymore the colossal expenses needed
to organize the shows, and this made the function of the building obsolete. Perhaps
some venatio was held until the end of the VII century (Gentili), but in the VIII-IX
centuries the amphitheatre was completely abandoned.
During the middle ages houses and churches were built in the Colosseum, that was also used as a fortress/residence by the barons of Rome. Its destruction was hastened during the renaissance and later by its use as a source of building materials, until restoration started again in the eighteenth century, and has never stopped since.
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